What happened to my peach tree?

[ChelswannabeGT]

I’m so sad I got this tree 2 yrs ago and it died last fall but I waited just in case. So today I pull it up and looks like the person who planted it didn’t spread the roots out or didn’t dig a saucer like hole.. we had a carpenter and he planted it while I was out with my kids thinking he was doing me a favor. I could be wrong but take a lot what do u all think happened to this tree?

 

[Chuck]

Hard to tell from the pic. By any chance did you scrape the skin off of some of the roots to see if the roots were still alive? Are the small feeder roots brittle? From the color of them, it appears to me that they may be still alive. If so then what happened was the graft died and that could be due to many causes. It also appears that the roots were growing in a circle which is a sign of the tree being root bound when planted. This didn't kill the tree however but could have had a serious effect a few years from now. It appears that the tree was planted at the correct depth although I can't be positive about this because of the weeds and dirt hiding part of the trunk. Wash off all of the dirt and take another picture. This will give us a better idea of what happened.

 

[ChelswannabeGT]

Ty for confirming my thoughts when I came how and saw how deeply it was planted and no saucer only a small circle I was worried the roots would be bound. They are still alive but I’m just going to start over this year. Would planting a new one in the same spot be a bad idea?

 

[Chuck]

Ty for confirming my thoughts when I came how and saw how deeply it was planted and no saucer only a small circle I was worried the roots would be bound. They are still alive but I’m just going to start over this year. Would planting a new one in the same spot be a bad idea?

Just make the new hole twice the diameter of the container or root ball. DO NOT use compost or garden soil as backfill. Use only what you dug out. You can use soil amendments i.e. bloodmeal, fertilizer etc. but only backfill with what you dug out. Make the hole squarish, not round and leave the root flare exposed. On your next tree pull it out of the container and check the roots before buying.

 

[ChelswannabeGT]

Just make the new hole twice the diameter of the container or root ball. DO NOT use compost or garden soil as backfill. Use only what you dug out. You can use soil amendments i.e. bloodmeal, fertilizer etc. but only backfill with what you dug out. Make the hole squarish, not round and leave the root flare exposed. On your next tree pull it out of the container and check the roots before buying.

Okay and I always read use garden soil just in case the soil I have is mostly clay. Ty I will try this out.